Air-Ride-in-Style - Part II
Air-Ride-in-Style - Part II is the ninety-seventh episode of Kirby: Right Back at Ya! and is the conclusion of the final two-part episode of the anime. The episode continues from Air-Ride-in-Style - Part I, which left off while Kirby was still facing off against the Air Riders. This episode is notable for the only appearances of the Baton, Iron and Top abilities, and the first appearance of the Water ability before it was officially introduced in Kirby's Return to Dream Land several years later. Synopsis Picking up where the previous episode left off, Kirby is in one of his toughest battles ever as he faces off against the four Air Riders. When the Warp Star gets damaged, Kirby must utilize four anime exclusive abilities to overtake the Air Ride Machines and defeat the villains. We also learn that there is more than one Kabu - they're spread across the universe, with jobs of protecting Star Warriors, and the Kabu we see now has learned from others like him that Nightmare has been stealing these Air Ride Machines throughout the universe from the Star Warriors that were felled during the war between Nightmare Enterprises and the Galaxy Soldier Army. Episode summary The episode starts with a reminiscent of Kirby's main power source, the Warp Star, and how Tiff was kidnapped by Dedede and Escargoon since they know Tiff is the only one who can call for the Warp Star. A Destroya ship arrives and attacks the village. Kirby attempts to save Tiff but was attacked, destroying his Warp Star and dropping its power. Customer Service tells Dedede and Escargoon that the Warp Star is destroyed, so he sends out the Air Riders to take Kirby down, but the Warp Star has somewhat regenerated its power, and Kirby hops on to stop the Air Riders, much to the chagrin of Tiff, who tells him it isn't powerful enough yet. Customer Service introduces Dedede and Escargoon to the Air Ride Machines, Formula Star, Rocket Star, Wing Star, and Shadow Star. They all gang up on Kirby. Meta Knight lets Tiff and Tuff know that Kirby must pull himself together, and use all his strength to defeat the Air Riders. Kirby starts by fighting the Air Rider using Formula Star. Kirby and his Warp Star get damaged by the Air Rider's staff. Meta Knight tells Kirby to inhale the weapon, and he does so, inhaling his staff and transforming into Baton Kirby. He uses Baton Twirl on the Formula Rider and takes control of him. He uses his baton to twirl him around, toss him around, and twirl him some more in an oddly hilarious fashion. Kirby then uses Baton Dance and starts swirling him hard, then he throws him in the air, destroying the first Air Rider. Unfortunately, Kirby's Warp Star is badly damaged, so he can't use it, Meta Knight suggests that Kirby use the Formula Star, which landed safely next to Kirby until Kirby's Warp Star can fully regain its power. With that, Kirby boards the Formula Star and takes off to fight the second Air Rider, who is riding the Rocket Star. At first, Kirby has a hard time controlling Formula Star, but he eventually gets the hang of it. The Air Rider literally burns Kirby out, but Tiff tells Kirby to lure him by the river. He inhales the water from there, while Dedede and Escargoon question why. Their question is answered when Kirby transforms into Water Kirby and he is able to fight back against the Rocket Rider. It attacks with its flamethrower, but Kirby fights back with Hydro Fountain. The two blasts collide, but the flamethrower overpowers Kirby and destroys the Formula Star, but Kirby managed to safely avoid any damage. The Rocket Rider tries to ram into Kirby, but he fights back with a few Hydro Fountain blasts, and leaves the Rocket Rider, along with the Rocket Star, helpless in the air. Kirby wraps up with a powerfully blasted Hydro Fountain and destroys the second Air Rider. He takes the Rocket Star and fights the Rider riding on the Wing Star, but he attacks Kirby with his iron flail and is ready to take him on. Kirby sustains a few hits but eventually is able to control himself and dodge the swings. The Wing Rider wraps the flail around Rocket Star and twirls Kirby to the ground, but he veers forward right before he crashes, but the Rocket Star is out of fuel, and it gets destroyed. Tiff tells him to run away, but the Rider attacks again. This time, Kirby inhales his flail and turns into Iron Kirby. The Wing Rider pulls out another flail and attacks Kirby, but he deflects his swings by swinging with his own iron staff and knocks the flail out of the Wing Rider's hands. he tries to ram into Kirby, but he uses Iron Golem, while Tiff and Tuff encourage him to roll over the Rider, and he knocks him out of his Wing Star, and destroys him, defeating the third Air Rider. Kirby takes his Wing Star and fights the final Rider, who rides the Shadow Star. The Shadow Rider quickly attacks Kirby with a bunch of tops but flies away. Kirby and the Rider fly through a forest, and the Rider attacks him with tops that explode. They explode on Kirby, but he fights back and takes full control of the Wing Star. The Shadow Rider attacks with tops again, but this time, Kirby avoids them. Tiff and Tuff are cheering for him while Meta Knight says that that is the spirit of a true Star Warrior. The Shadow Rider throws another top, but Kirby inhales it and transforms into Top Kirby. He uses Hyper Top on the Rider, who fights back with his top that explodes, but Kirby's top breaks a piece of the Shadow Star. Kirby throws it again and practically reduces the Shadow Star into pieces, and destroys the final Air Rider, which surprises Escargoon and Dedede. Tiff and Tuff cheer for him, but the Destroya attacks again, and Tiff is thrown off Kabu. Kirby saves her, but the Destroya destroys the Wing Star. Tiff and Kirby wake up and ask what happened and where they are. Tuff says that they are inside Kabu and that they were knocked out for a while after the Destroya attacked them. Tiff said that Kirby had fought four Air Riders and had learned to control each Air Machine they rode, but Tuff says that it was just a dream. Kabu then proceeds to tell Tiff and Kirby that he gave those two the dream so Kirby can master control of not only his Warp Star but four other Air Ride Machines. Tiff says that Kirby flew the Air Ride Machines like a pro. The Destroya attacks again in an attempt to destroy Kabu, on an order from King Dedede. However, Dedede ordered the attack when he was outside of Kabu, and the Destroya ends up shooting at Dedede and Escargoon as well, so Escargoon drives off. The Warp Star is restored, and Kirby is able to masterfully control it. He flies into the Destroya's core while Tiff wishes him good luck. He finds himself in the Destroya's assembly line, and he inhales some of its projectiles, transforming into Crash Kirby. He uses Crash Fireball and destroys the Destroya, while Dedede and Escargoon get hit by flaming pieces of it. Kirby flies back to Tiff, Tuff, and Meta Knight, and the Warp Star shrinks back to its smaller size. Customer Service informs Nightmare that Kirby isn't invincible with the Warp Star after all, and he replies by saying that now that he knows this, he will attempt to steal the Warp Star from Kirby, then take over the world. Kirby is determined to save the world from Nightmare. Changes in the dub * The original version of this episode included the winning entries for a Copy-Ability-Contest the show was holding. After each copy abilities' transformation, the name of the copy ability and the name of the person who sent it is shown. Due to it being a Japan-exclusive contest, the North American release treated the abilities as if they were normal for Kirby. Every scene including contest-information was deleted for the dub. Trivia * This is the first time Kirby could ride other rides besides a Warp Star. * This episode references Kirby Air Ride. * This is the only time Kirby transforms into Water Kirby, even though he has been inhaling water throughout previous episodes.